The Family Plan

by Gina Wilkins

  She wrapped her arms around his neck. She hadn’t actually planned to do so, but she didn’t try very hard to resist the impulse. The move brought them closer, their bodies pressed together from chest to knee.

  The rather primly tailored navy suit Caitlin had worn like a coat of armor that day seemed to become suddenly thinner as Nathan’s hands swept over her back and hips. She could have almost sworn she felt the warmth of his palms directly on her skin, though she knew that was impossible. Wishful thinking, perhaps.

  His hair was soft and thick when she plunged her hands into it. His mouth was warm and hungry when her tongue tangled with his. His body was lean and hard beneath his conservative business clothing. Growing harder by the moment, she couldn’t help noticing as his hands slid down her hips and held her more snugly against him.

  He had already made it clear that he wanted her. This merely reinforced his words. She had already known she wanted him. It was becoming harder all the time for her to deny it—to herself or to him.

  He tugged at her jacket, pulling it off her shoulders and down her arms, revealing the thin, sleeveless ice-blue shell she wore beneath. Another tug, and the shell came free from the waistband of her straight navy skirt. A moment later she knew exactly how it felt to have Nathan’s hands on the bare skin of her back.

  It felt fabulous.

  She tilted her head, letting her lips rub softly against his. And then she arched into him when he brought his hands around beneath the shell to cup her breasts through the thin fabric of her bra. His thumbs rubbed her nipples, making her shiver in his arms.

  “Nathan,” she murmured into his mouth.

  He drew his hands from beneath her top to cup her flushed face between them. His eyes were such a dark blue—gleaming sapphires—when they locked with hers. His voice was a hoarse growl when he asked, “Do you have any idea how badly I want you?”

  Since their lower bodies were still plastered tightly together, she nodded. “I have a pretty good idea.”

  His hands lowered to her shoulders and stroked slowly down her forearms. “I have a pretty good idea it’s not all one-sided.”

  There was no sense in denying her feelings now, not when she was draped all over him, her nipples hard against his chest, her hands fisted in his shirt to keep him close to her. “It’s not one-sided.”

  He smiled and brushed a kiss against the tip of her nose. “It seems like it has taken months to get you to admit that.”

  Probably because it had, she mused wryly. She must have started falling for him the first time she met him, when he’d smiled at her and said, “I would be deeply honored if you would consider being my partner, Caitlin Briley.”

  He lowered his head to kiss her again, gently this time. Lingeringly. The tenderness of the embrace affected her even more deeply than the passion of before. She melted against him.

  The kiss changed again, flaring hotter and needier. If he had lowered her to the floor then, she wouldn’t have uttered a syllable of protest. He could have tossed aside the navy suit and taken her right there in the office, and she would have given herself to him with utter abandon.

  She would have sworn he was tempted to do just that. She could almost feel the urge ripple through him, so strong he trembled with it. For just a moment they seemed poised on the brink of something momentous. Life changing. Irreversible.

  Nathan was the one who came to his senses first. She wasn’t sure whether she was more relieved or disappointed when he lifted his head, slowly bringing the kiss to an end. “Damn,” he said.

  It took her a few beats to catch up. “What?” She cleared her throat. “What’s wrong?”

  “I have to go home. It’s Mrs. T.’s choir night.”

  Recalled abruptly to her senses, she shook her head and took a step backward, putting some distance between them.

  “You have to go home to Isabelle,” she said, very slowly returning to reality.

  “Come with me. Have dinner with us.”

  “No. I— No.” She simply wasn’t ready for a cozy family meal with Nathan and his little sister.

  He looked as though he would have liked to argue, but he reluctantly accepted her answer. “All right. We’re still on for the symphony Saturday night, right?”

  “Yes.” It would be rude to back out on that commitment now, since he had already made arrangements.

  “Great. I’ve been looking forward to it all week.”

  Picking up his overstuffed briefcase, he nodded toward the door. “After you, partner.”

  She made an attempt to pull her dignity together. Lifting her chin and squaring her shoulders, she turned to leave his office.

  “Caitlin?” His voice sounded oddly amused.

  “Yes?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder.

  He scooped her jacket off the floor and dangled it from one finger. “I doubt that you want Irene to find this here in the morning.”

  Her cheeks burned. Snatching the jacket away from him, she shoved her arms into it.

  She didn’t even want to think about Irene finding her clothes scattered around Nathan’s office.

  A steady stream of monsters, wizards, superheroes, princesses, cartoon characters and movie villains rang Caitlin’s doorbell Thursday evening. Though she had heard reports that trick-or-treating had been falling out of favor nationwide, the tradition was still thriving in Honesty. Most of her visitors were children from the large, family-friendly, town house apartment complex in which she had lived since moving here, but there were also quite a few from the modestly priced housing development that began on the next block.

  Having been forewarned by the neighbors about the number of trick-or-treaters to expect, she had bought several big bags of candy. As was the apartment complex practice, she left her outside light burning as a signal that she welcomed ghostly visitors. Her apartment was at the end of a block of town houses, so it seemed to be one of the first stops.

  Though some of her older neighbors had complained that they wished the practice could be banned and that they worried about crime and vandalism from roving packs of unsupervised teenagers, Caitlin rather enjoyed the evening. She’d spread her work out on her coffee table, tuned the TV to a classic-TV-comedy-series marathon and popped up and down to answer the door.

  The children were adorable in their costumes, their eyes shining from behind masks or through layers of makeup. Proud parents hovered self-consciously in the background, whispering instructions, “Say trick or treat. Tell the nice lady thank you.” Most of the kids displayed very nice manners, and Caitlin decided not to let the ruder, usually older ones spoil her pleasure in the evening.

  The doorbell had almost completely stopped ringing by seven-thirty, which was a relief since she was almost out of candy. She was considering turning off the light and calling it an evening when the bell chimed again.

  She should have turned off her light after the last group of trick-or-treaters fifteen minutes earlier. But since she hadn’t, she stood, picked up the nearly empty bowl of candy and opened her door.

  A dashing duo posed on her doorstep. A tall, lean Superman in blue tights and red cape stood with his arms crossed nobly over his chest, while a petite blond Supergirl bounced at his side, looking as though she might very well take off and fly. “Trick or treat, Miss Caitlin!”

  With an effort, Caitlin drew her gaze from Nathan and smiled down at Isabelle. “Maybe you two should come inside. It isn’t often I get a visit from Superman and Supergirl.”

  Isabelle wasn’t wearing a mask, but she wore a fairly heavy coating of blue eye shadow, rosy blusher and pink lipstick. Caitlin couldn’t help smiling as she pictured Nathan inexpertly applying the face paints. Isabelle skipped into the living room, hauling a bulging treat bag filled with candy. Nathan followed, apparently completely at ease in his own costume.

  He should have looked ridiculous, Caitlin thought in bemusement. Instead, he was gorgeous. A tall, lean, sandy-haired, blue-eyed hero. Funny, she had never fancied hersel
f as Lois Lane—until now.

  “You really go all out for this holiday, don’t you?” she asked him quizzically as she snapped off the outside light to put an end to the festivities for the evening.

  He chuckled. “This was Isabelle’s idea. I’ve been letting her look at some of my old comic books, and Superman and Supergirl are her favorites.”

  “You have a comic book collection?” she asked without surprise.

  “Not a particularly valuable one. Just my favorites from when I was a kid—maybe a hundred editions.”

  “Oh. Just a hundred,” she teased, making him grin.

  “Nate wasn’t sure he wanted to dress up, but I told him it would be more fun if we both did,” Isabelle confided. “Look how much candy I got, Miss Caitlin. Tons and tons.”

  “Very impressive.” Caitlin emptied the half dozen remaining pieces of candy in her bowl into Isabelle’s treat bag. “There you go. Be sure and let Nathan go through everything before you eat it, okay? Just to make sure it all looks safe and tightly wrapped.”

  “I will. Nate already made me promise.”

  “I’ve refreshed myself on basic trick-or-treat protocol,” he added.

  Caitlin gave him a thumbs-up of approval before asking Isabelle, “Have you had a good time today?”

  “Oh, yes!” The child launched immediately into a breathless litany of the events of her day, beginning with breakfast, rambling through her morning preschool classes and continuing through the Halloween program and carnival that had followed. She concluded with a detailed itinerary of the houses where they had stopped for trick-or-treating—all belonging to friends of her brother, she added.

  Caitlin listened politely, though her gaze kept wandering to Nathan. He did look fine in those tights, she thought with a stifled sigh.

  Barely pausing for breath after her monologue, Isabelle added, “I got to go to the bathroom.”

  Nathan groaned. “Isabelle.”

  “Well, I do!” she insisted, wide-eyed.

  Caitlin smiled. “I happen to have a bathroom. Let me show you where it is.”

  Isabelle took her hand. “Okay.”

  Leading the little girl to the first door on the right in the hallway, Caitlin reached in to turn on the light. “Do you need any assistance?”

  “No, thank you. I can do it.”

  Amused by the child’s brusquely independent tone, Caitlin stepped out of the doorway. “Call out if you need anything.”

  Isabelle firmly closed the door between them. Chuckling, Caitlin stepped back into the living room and was immediately enveloped by a pair of strong male arms.

  “Ever kiss a superhero?” Nathan asked.

  “I can’t say that I have,” she replied, letting her hands slide up his chest, pausing to trace the stylized “S”, then moving up to circle his neck. “But it might be an interesting experience.”

  “I’ll try to make it a little better than ‘interesting,’” he promised as he lowered his mouth to hers.

  The kiss was considerably better than interesting. It was well on its way to becoming spectacular when they heard the bathroom door open, indicating that Isabelle would rejoin them momentarily. Reluctantly Caitlin extricated herself from Nathan’s arms and stepped backward.

  Giving her a rueful look, he pulled his long red cape around him.

  Caitlin turned to entertain Isabelle for a moment, helping the child rearrange her own costume, asking a few more questions about the school Halloween carnival, laughing at Isabelle’s description of her teachers’ stint in a dunking booth. After a couple of minutes Nathan stepped forward. “We’d better go, kiddo. We have to fight injustice and evil all around the world.”

  “Actually,” Isabelle confided to Caitlin, “I have to go to bed. I have school tomorrow.”

  Caitlin leaned over to kiss her soft cheek. “I’m glad you came to my door tonight, Isabelle. It was a very nice treat for me.”

  Isabelle threw her arms around Caitlin’s neck and snuggled her painted little face into Caitlin’s throat. “Thank you for the candy, Miss Caitlin. I love you.”

  Oh, God. Caitlin felt unexpected tears threaten. She wrapped her arms around Isabelle’s fragile little body and squeezed gently, her watery gaze meeting Nathan’s over the child’s head.

  He gave her a lopsided smile that seemed to say, “Now you understand why I couldn’t give her up.”

  She had understood his reasoning all along, of course. She simply didn’t know if she was ready to make such a permanent commitment herself.

  Nathan restrained himself to a kiss on her cheek as he passed her on the way out the door. “See you tomorrow.”

  “Be careful out there fighting crime, Superman,” she murmured, then closed the door behind him and leaned her forehead against the wood.

  She wished she had a few superpowers of her own—the ability to see the future among them.

  Straightening, she spotted the folded letter she had tucked into a basket on a cherry side table close to the door. She still hadn’t told Nathan about hearing from Tom, or about the possibility that she could be interviewed for a fast-track position in Los Angeles.

  She didn’t know what was holding her back. Maybe she didn’t know what she would tell him if he asked if she really wanted that interview.

  Because Nathan got held up in an unexpected client meeting Saturday, barely getting away in time to make the symphony performance, he arranged by phone for Caitlin to meet him at his house. That way, they agreed, he would have time to change and they could leave straight from his place.

  She had assured him that she, of all people, understood the sometimes-inconvenient demands of work, and didn’t mind making a few concessions because of his career duties.

  Fayrene Tuckerman answered the door when Caitlin rang Nathan’s bell. “Good evening, Ms. Briley,” she said, ushering Caitlin inside. “Don’t you look lovely this evening.”

  Caitlin had worn her simple black sheath with a beaded black jacket and heeled black sandals. She had pinned her hair up and secured it with a couple of glittery hairpins. Her only other jewelry was a pair of diamond stud earrings. “Thank you, Mrs. Tuckerman. Is Nathan ready?”

  “He just dashed in and went straight to his room to shower and change. He said to tell you he would join you in a few minutes. May I get you something to drink while you wait?”

  “No, thank you. I’ll just—”

  “Miss Caitlin! Miss Caitlin!”

  Caitlin braced herself. A moment later Isabelle threw her arms around Caitlin’s legs and squeezed as enthusiastically as if it had been weeks since they had last seen each other rather than just a couple of days.

  “Hello, Isabelle.” Caitlin returned the hug. “What happened to your friend Supergirl?”

  Isabelle giggled. “She went back to Krypton till next Halloween.”

  “Gee, I hope she’ll write us sometime.”

  The child was obviously delighted with Caitlin’s silliness. She beamed up at her. “Are you going on a date with Nate?” she asked, relishing the rhyme.

  “Nathan and I are going to the symphony.”

  “Mrs. T. brought some games. She’s going to teach me to play Trouble and checkers.”

  “Sounds like fun.”

  “Do you like to play games?”

  “Yes, occasionally.”

  “Will you play with me sometime?”

  “I’d love to.”

  Nathan stumbled into the room, still shoving his arms into his suit jacket. His hair was damp and his tie crooked, but he was smiling when his eyes met Caitlin’s.

  “Sorry,” he said. “Kirk Sawyer got himself arrested for DWI again, and he insisted that I come down to the police station. I told him this is it—he’s going to have to find another lawyer from now on.”

  Kirk Sawyer was a local sports hero who had played four seasons with a professional football team before ruining his knees and ending his career. He’d spent the ten years since strutting around town, filming cheesy commerci
als for his father’s successful car dealership and partying.

  Had he not been who he was, he would already be serving time, but his reputation and his father’s money carried a bit too much weight in this town. Nathan wasn’t the first local lawyer who’d gotten tired of defending him.

  Isabelle studied him critically. “Your tie’s messed up, Nate.”

  He tugged at it, which succeeded in skewing it worse.

  Caitlin shook her head. “Let me,” she said, stepping forward. She straightened the tie quickly and efficiently, looking up at him through her eyelashes.

  He smiled down at her, obviously enjoying her attentions. “Thank you. You do that very well.”

  “My father never learned how to tie a necktie. Not that he needed to wear one often. He only had one that he wore to weddings, funerals and the occasional job interview.”

  Aware that Isabelle and Mrs. T. were watching them with interest, she patted the tie and stepped back. “There. That looks much better, doesn’t it, Isabelle?”

  “Yes. Miss Caitlin looks pretty, doesn’t she, Nate?”

  “Miss Caitlin looks beautiful,” he replied, and his tone made Caitlin fight a blush.

  “Thank you. And now we had better go before we miss the opening number,” she said, carefully avoiding the housekeeper’s eyes as she turned toward the door.

  “Have fun at the sympathy,” Isabelle called after them.

  Nathan laughed. “I would correct her, but it just sounded too appropriate,” he told Caitlin as he opened the passenger door of his car for her.

  Her own smile lasted until they were on the road. All of a sudden she was too intensely aware that she and Nathan were on a date. Sort of. And all of a sudden she could think of absolutely nothing to say.

  As inconceivable as the notion seemed, Nathan appeared to be suffering from a similar problem. He cleared his throat. “So. We’re really doing this. Going out, I mean.”

  She frowned intently through the windshield. “It’s hardly the first time we’ve spent an evening together. We’ve done things together in the past.”